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Shiv Sena promise protests

<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p>Jai Bhagwan Goyal, president of the New Delhi chapter of the Shiv Sena, has warned that Pakistan will face "ferocious" protests when they play in India next week in the Champions Trophy.</o:p>

10 Oct 2006 14:13 GMT

Shiv Sena: Ready and willing in large numbers

"Our opposition will be swift and ferocious if Pakistan dare to play on Indian soil," Goyal said.

"Pitches can again be dug up ... Many things can happen which we will not disclose now as it will alert the security agencies.

"But whatever we do it will be a powerful and very visible protest," he added.

The group have demanded New Delhi halt Pakistan's participation in the 10-nation tournament which ends November 5 with the final in the Shiv Sena bastion of Mumbai.

Goyal's followers dug up New Delhi's Ferozeshah Kotla ground in 1999, eight years after Sena men damaged the Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium to protest the Pakistani cricket team's presence in India.

The political party said their protest followed a public statement by the Mumbai police chief that Pakistan spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), masterminded the July 7 attacks that killed 186 people and left 800 others wounded aboard commuter trains in Mumbai.

"Even Afghan President Hamid Karzai accuses Islamabad of helping the Taliban ... Pakistan is a hub of terror and we do not want anything to do with that country," he said.

"We demand New Delhi call off Pakistan's participation in this tournament to express its opposition to terrorism."

Pakistan play their opening match in the Rajasthan city of Jaipur on October 17. They take on New Zealand in Mohali on October 25 and South Africa at the same Punjab stadium two days later.

The government has said it will reinforce security at venues where Pakistan plays.